Liberal

The Liberal party of Canada has a clear forward thinking path for Canada on the world stage. The Liberal party of Canada as outlined in its campaign platform wants to build Canada up in the world stage, and we believe that this is best achieved through the fostering of networks that already exist because of you, the average Canadian. Canadians have worked hard over many decades building both economic and family ties abroad. That is why the Liberal party has released the Global Networks Strategy to encourage Canadians to travel abroad to build and strengthen these networks, effectively promoting Canadian economic interests and Canadian values. We believe that our multicultural tradition is a key benefit in executing Canada’s foreign policy in an increasingly interconnected world.

Under the current administration, Canadian foreign policy has been dominated by creating fear of the outside world, inconsistent and contradictory policies that damage Canada’s stature and reputation. The current administration under Conservative leadership has turned down calls for help in the Congo, which has denied Canada an opportunity to promote security and Canadian values of peace, order, and good government in a troubled region, which needs such assistance as much as ever.

Increasingly in recent years, arctic sovereignty has become a real issue. The Conservative government chose to address this issue by creating a climate of fear and mistrust of our neighbour’s intentions. By acting in such a unilateral way, Canadians for the first time came across on the world stage as a rather comically incapable agitator. Under our policy, we would choose to take a multilateral approach to find means of international cooperation with our neighbours to maximize the mutual benefit that could be realized by all parties.

The liberal party of Canada believes that Canada’s place on the global stage is that of an honest and trustworthy broker, not the more aggressive, unilateral approach we have been going in the last few years. It is our position that we work within global institutions to promote Canadian values; peace, order, and good government. We believe that Canada’s standing and credibility as a broker has been damaged in recent years as evidenced by our poor performance at securing a seat on the UN Security Council, which we could have used to promote Canadian ideals with greater success. Canada has been unable to act as a fair arbitrator on the global stage because the culture of mistrust of anything foreign that the current government tends to propagate. Such attitudes which are contrary to our historical position on the world stage have been a contributing factor to the clear mismanagement of Canadian foreign relations.

Though Liberal foreign policy recognizes that our dedicated members of the armed forces require the best equipment available to effectively do their job, it is clear to everyone but the Conservatives that the $34billion acquisition of F-34 fighter jets is not the equipment that they need to do their job. The “deal” that the Conservatives stuck for the F-34’s has not been made clear to anybody outside of the Conservative caucus as to who the real benefactors of this so called sole sourced “deal” are. It is our position that the money spent on these fighter jets would be better invested if spent on more pressing equipment needs and concerns of the armed forces.

Thornhill already being a multi-ethnic community knows and appreciates first handed the challenges of moving to a new country, and even conducting business across the globe. With the Liberal introduction of the Global Networks Strategy, Thornhill can sure to see more government support and encouragement in utilizing the global networks and ties that many in Thornhill already have today. The youth of Thornhill could certainly benefit from learning more about the world by having the opportunities to work and volunteer abroad, building their own networks that will encourage their success in the coming years. Karen Mock knows the importance of the Global Networks Strategy for Thornhill when she meets many voters during canvassing that have their children acting as translators for their parents.

We believe that it is not solely the diplomat that presents Canada on the world stage, but Canadians themselves, and we wish to encourage that trend, as Canadians will increasingly be conducting business in other countries, and many new Canadians will be coming from abroad, bringing their own global networks with them.

This guest blog was written by Benjamin Fitzerman